Little Flower HS remembers Lacey Gallagher

In memory: Little Flower High School’s soccer team recently retired the №13 jersey that was worn by Lacey Gallagher, a student who died in a car accident in 2007.

Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls recently retired the №13 soccer jersey worn by Lacey Gallagher, who died in a car accident in 2007 following her senior prom.

Lacey enjoyed her four years at Little Flower, where she flourished spiritually, academically and socially.

Classmate Ali McCrossin Janda described Lacey as an athlete, classmate, friend and sister to the Little Flower community.

“Lacey was kind, friendly, a gentle soul and blessed others with her life,” she said.

Lacey Gallagher was 18 when she died April 28, 2007, following her prom. She and six friends were riding in a sport utility vehicle on a wet and foggy night at about 3 a.m. on the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension, south of the Quakertown exit, on their way to the Pocono Mountains.

The driver lost control of the vehicle, which hit a concrete barrier and rolled over before landing on its roof. Lacey was ejected and killed, while her friends were taken to the hospital with injuries. None was wearing seat belts. Drugs and alcohol were not factors.

Year after year, athletic director Adam Buchter would distribute the soccer uniforms, and the girls, out of respect, would not choose №13. So, this season, when Buchter was assigning the soccer uniforms, one of the students, Caleigh Gallagher, class of 2015, clued him in.

“We don’t use №13 anymore; that was Lacey’s number,” she said.

Buchter was inspired to retire №13.

“To know that Lacey still lives in the hearts of our current soccer players gives me a renewed understanding of the love that Lacey shines down on us every day,” he said.

Lacey’s parents and siblings, friends, coaches and the Little Flower family gathered in the gym as the №13 soccer uniform was retired.

Thanks to the countless fundraising efforts of Lacey’s family, they were able to establish the Lacey Gallagher Memorial Scholarship Fund. This scholarship assists students in their pursuit of a Catholic high school education.

In 2011, Gov. Tom Corbett signed Lacey’s Law, which limits the number of passengers teen drivers may have in the car and increases the number of hours of behind-the-wheel experience required for a junior license.

Following the fifth anniversary of Lacey’s death, Jen James, a friend and classmate, wrote the following in the guestbook of the Lacey Gallagher Scholarship Fund:

“It truly is incredible the amount of love that surrounds you and your memory and that it will never change. You have affected the lives of so many people and still so many to come.” ••